Regret is Such a Pointless Emotion - AU
by cadencewrites
Summary: What will happen when Clary moves to New York City? New life. New school. New friends. How will she fare when she catches the eye of the bad boy Jace? It's safe to say her life will never be the same again - but have a little faith! (Human AU)
1. Chapter 1

*DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Cassandra Clare, I am simply having some fun with them*

 **Regret is Such a Pointless Emotion**

Chapter 1

Clary POV

"I don't want to leave, John. Why are Mum and Dad making us do this?" She whined to her older brother.

"Hey you might enjoy it, who knows." He told her gently.

Clary's whole family seemed excited about moving to New York - but not her. She would is her friends, her school, everything. It was an adventure to them but it felt more like a punishment to her for some reason. She would especially miss her best friend - Simon Lewis. She would never find anyone like him again, this whole thing sucked.

"I'm going out, I'll pack later." She told Jonathan.

He didn't ask any questions, just nodded and let her leave. He was a good brother she thought, protective yet not too protective, they rarely argued.

She picked up her phone to text Simon as she walked out the door

 _Hey, can I come round for a while?x_

The reply came quickly as always.

 _Sure thing x_

She walked to Simon's house which was only a couple of blocks from her own, it was one of the great things that they lived so close. She couldn't imagine what it was like for long distance friends. This is why she worried so much about moving, she'd probably never get to see Simon again. Of course they would never need to say this, they would still make the normal promises of "we'll stay on touch", "I'll talk to you every day" and "we'll always be best friends no matter the distance" but deep down they were just lying to themselves and they knew it. At this thought her eyes has started to water and she knew she had to calm down before she knocked on Simons door.

After clearing her head she knocked the door, Simon's mother Elaine opened it. Elaine was friendly enough but Clary often got the feeling she didn't like her very much, of course she had never said anything directly mean to Clary so she ignored it.

"Come on in, Clary. Simon is in his room."

"Thank you Mrs Lewis."

She walked into Simon's room to find him sprawled on his bed reading a comic.

"Hey." It came out as more of a whisper than she intended as she went to sit by him on the bed.

"Hey." He replied as he out down his comic and sat up beside her, their arms brushing together.

Neither one could find anything to say to break the silence. Eventually it became too much and she turned and hugged him, putting her head into his chest.

"I'm going to miss you so much." She whispered, trying hard to keep her voice from cracking. It wasn't like her to show weakness in this way but it was Simon and he would never judge her.

"I know, I'm going to miss you too. More than you can imagine."

Simon untangled himself from her and went to pick up something from the other side of the room.

He sat back down and handed her a small box, "I wanted to get you something so you would never forget me even as you're off meeting new friends in New York."

She opened the box to reveal a delicate silver necklace in the shape of a paint brush.

"Simon it's beautiful..."

"Turn it over." He told her.

On the back it was engraved, _"Love can travel as far as you let it, love Simon."_

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I love you, Simon. Always."

His next move was much less expected, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She was surprised at first but didn't pull away, she kissed him back a little before they both broke away. Though not moving any further away.

"I had to do that just once, I'm sorry." he murmured.

"It's okay, I'm sorry things can't happen for us." She replied, though she wasn't completely sure, if she had stayed would they have been together? She had always saw Simon at a best friend rather than anything else.

"I know, I understand."

My phone began to ring, interrupting the silence, she was going to hang up but Simon just nodded, signalling she should answer it.

"Hello?"

"Clary, where are you? You are supposed to be packing." Crap it was her mum.

"I'm with Simon."

"Well tell Simon I said hello then come straight home."

"But mum..."

"No Clary, I understand you don't want to leave him but we have to. You'll be able to say goodbye properly before we leave."

"Okay, okay. I'll come home." She sighed, knowing that her mum was right.

She turned to Simon, "I'm really sorry Simon, I need to go home. My mum says hello though."

"Yeah it's okay, you do need to pack. I think goodbye would be more fitting." He said in reply and then walked out of the room to show her to the door. Not that she needed help to find it, she had been coming to Simon's house for as long as she could remember.

"Bye, I'll see you before I leave." She promised as she left, she could feel his eyes burning into my back as she left.

Was she right to kiss him back? Did she just change things?

"Why do things have to be so complicated?" She sighed to herself as I walked home.

"Big day tomorrow then eh?" Jonathan said as they all sat together on the last night of their new home, Clary guessed it was partly to annoy her. She had never wanted to slap someone more in that moment and yet at the same time she so wanted to run into his arms and cry everything out.

No one had an answer for her brother, what could you say? Simon was going to meet her to see her off in the morning and then that would be it, off to the big city.

Her mum seemed to be the only one to show any slight understanding of how she was feeling right now, but she was so busy trying to organise everything that it was hard to get a moment with her. Her dad had been acting strange and distant lately and well Jonathan was clearly excited for the move, she was mostly alone in her worries tonight. Of course they would miss the place but they just didn't feel as strongly as she did and she couldn't understand why. This was their home, their lives were here.

Simon POV

This was it, the day his best friend was leaving. Simon had a few other friends from school of course, but none as close as Clary, he would really miss her.

"Simon, are you not going to say goodbye to Clary?" His mother called up to him.

"I'm just about to leave." He called back.

He lifted his jacket and walked down stairs to the door.

"Wish her my best of luck." His mother said before walking out the door. He could have told her to come with him but well his mother and Clary's family were never really very close so there wasn't much point.

He could see the removal vans and all the people milling about the Morganstern house before he even reached it, no sign of Clary yet though. No one acknowledged him at first and since they all seemed busy he decided to just go straight in and look for Clary. He found her sitting with her back against the wall in her empty bedroom.

"So this is it then." He said as he walked in and sat down.

"I guess it is." She replied, though she looked far away. As though in some other place rather than sitting here with him.

"I'm going to miss this place you know, we have so many memories. I don't think I can handle seeing other people living here."

"Yeah."

"You're wearing your necklace I see." He was just looking for some way to start a conversation with her, like old times. The thing was this just wasn't like old times at all and that's the part that hurt.

"Of course I am." She replied as though he was stupid for thinking anything else, "I'll keep it on everyday I'm in New York, I won't forget you. Ever, I promise."

"I won't either, I love you Clary."

"I love you too Simon."

"So how is the band coming along?" Clary asked him. Simon and a few friends from school had a sort of band thing going on and Clary teased him relentlessly for it. He laughed and they somehow sunk into that easy, familiar conversation.

Clary POV

As she climbed into the car with the rest of her family and shut the door, the only thing she could see was Simon's face, his sad eyes betraying the smile plastered on his face. It killed her and yet she knew she couldn't look back. If she did, she would be back out of the car in seconds.

"Guessing your boyfriend wasn't too happy then?" Jonathan sniggered.

Why was he being so mean? He wasn't usually like this.

"He's not my..." She began to protest then gave up, "Look just shut up."

"Jonathan, leave your sister alone. You know how hard this is for her." Her mother scolded her brother.

"Jocelyn leave them be, they're kids that's what kids do." Her dad said. Her mother just stayed silent, finding it better than to argue with him.

Jonathan looked smug for the fact that dad had indirectly though kind of obviously stuck up for him rather than her.

She just blocked it all out, laying her head against the window and sighing, eventually falling into sleep.

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 **Authors Note:**

 **If you have read this far then thank you so much for reading! I don't have a lot of experience with story writing so I hope it wasn't too bad! :)**

 **Thank you again and more chapters will be out very shortly!**

 **Have a lovely day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Thank you for the kind responses I had from some people on the last chapter. Enjoy the second chapter!**

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Chapter 2

Unpacking was awful, she hated every second of it. Seeing all of her stuff in a different place only made her feel more home sick. The only thing she was dreading more was school, she was starting Alicante High School on Monday and the only person she would know is her brother. Why it's named after some place in Spain and not New York she would never know.

She was sorting out the last of her clothes when her Mom came in.

"Are you getting settled in okay, Clary?" She asked in greeting.

"Yeah, sure." Clary mumbled.

"Oh come on, it's not so bad here. You needed the change of scenery, who knows you might even like it." Her Mom said in an attempt to cheer her up, but she wasn't buying it.

"You don't get it Mom, this doesn't feel like home, I have no friends here."

"You'll make friends."

"Maybe, but they won't be Simon." She told her Mother bluntly, that was all there was to it.

"You can't base this on one boy, there are lots of other nice people, you'll find someone even better than Simon. I promise."

Her Mother had crossed a line now, how could she say that? She knew how close Clary was to Simon.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Was all she said in response. When her Mom realised that she wasn't going to say anything else she sighed and left the room.

The weekend passed in a blur of unpacking and home sickness and before she knew it, Monday morning had arrived. She had never fussed over clothes too much but she figured she should at least make some sort of effort this morning, it was her only chance to make a first impression on these people.

She put on some skinny jeans, black combat boots and a black top with an unbuttoned shirt over the top. Of course not forgetting about her necklace from Simon, which made her miss him even more.

She attempted to tame her hair flaming, red curls into some sort of updo but eventually left it down around her shoulders. Whenever people envied her hair they had no idea what they were talking about, it was a nightmare. It never quite done what she wanted it to no matter how hard she tried. She even applied some make-up, she was going to all this effort and yet probably no one would even notice.

She slung her almost empty book bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs to wait on Jonathan. They had decided to walk to school together despite their Mother trying to insist on driving them.

"Oh you look lovely! Doesn't she look so grown up Valentine? Are you excited for your first day? Should I take pictures? Oh have you remembered lunch money? Did you-" Her Mom fretted until she cut her off.

"Mom, calm down. It's okay, honestly you seem almost more worried than I am right now and it's freaking me out." She told her, though she couldn't help laughing. Her Mother really did care about her even though it drove her mad sometimes.

"Oh I know, I'm sorry honey." She apologised before pulling her into a right hug.

"Thanks Mom, love you." She smiled as she poured some coffee, "black like her soul" as Simon always said.

"I'll skip the sappy stuff today, I'm good. Ready to go sis?" Her brother called as he walked downstairs laughing. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood today.

"Yeah, we should leave now so we can be on time. I just need to finish my coffee first" She replied, Jonathan's good mood has somehow made her feel better as well.

"You and your coffee." He laughed fondly.

Despite what he said he gave Mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek on his way passed anyway.

She hugged her Dad as well and wished him good luck on his new job he was starting today. Clary had always been closer to her Mom than her Dad for some reason, while Jonathan was the opposite.

They all called their goodbyes and a few minutes later Clary and Jonathan were making their way along the road to school. They didn't really talk much, they mostly walked in silence with a bit of small talk here and there, she liked it this way.

As they approached the front gates Clary noticed first the huge sign up for the soccer team, "Alicante Demons, _looking better in black since 1234_ ". Most other schools used animals, demons was rather strange but she was new here, who was she to question them.

Most people just ignored them, only a few heads turned to look them over with mild interest then looked away, no one approached them. They followed signs until they found the main office, they collected maps and timetables and all the general need to know information before heading off to their first class.

Her first class was physical education - apparently a mandatory subject at this school - this made her groan inwardly, she always the last picked for teams and had never found any sports that she was particularly good at.

"Where are you going first?" Jonathan asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"The gym, you?" She replied, hoping that she would at least have him in her first class.

"English literature." He said and this time she actually groaned. Today would officially be the worst day ever she decided.

"Oh come on, it won't be so bad. Might even be good to get out there and meet new people by yourself, without it being influenced on my awesomeness." Jonathan told her to try and cheer up.

"Wow."

"What?"

"You really are a cocky son of a bitch sometimes." She laughed and shoved him slightly.

He pretended to look hurt but ended up laughing with her, "I'll see you at break."

She waved goodbye and headed to her own class, dreading every minute of it. She found the girls locker room without much difficulty and walked in, not sure what to expect.

All of the girls were getting ready, she thought she would be ignored but of course she had no such luck.

"Well would you look at what the cat dragged in!" Exclaimed a girl with long raven black hair and dark eyes. It was clear she was the popular queen bee in this class, the exact people she couldn't stand. Great. Everyone laughed and turned to stare at her, she heard lots of questions being whispered around and was pretty sure she had never felt so self-conscious in her life.

"Who is she?"

"Has she never heard of fashion?"

"Did she literally walk out of hot topic?"

"Is that hair natural?"

"Does she have any friends?"

The whole time she shuffled nervously from foot to foot hoping her face wasn't blushing a crimson red as it often did in awkward situations.

"Hey! Stop, she looks like she's going to piss herself!" The dark haired girl shouted over them to silence them, though not really looking truly sorry.

"I, uh, think I should get changed now." She announced, trying to act confident and brave but her voice betrayed her.

"Oh you do? Well I don't and what I say goes." The girl snapped once more. Things were getting worse and worse by the minute. "I may not know you but I don't like you, I'm the boss here and you need to get that into that pretty little red head of yours. Are we clear?"

She just nodded, not trusting herself to say anything else. The girl turned away looking disgusted and Clary took that as a cue to get changed for P.E.

She threw on her gym clothes and trainers and managed to tie her hair up somehow as fast as she possibly could then left the locker room behind everyone else.

She stood alone in the Gym, she could feel the dark haired girl's eyes on her as she whispered to her friends, probably in an attempt to annoy her. Clary hated that it was working, but she couldn't let it show or else things would get worse.

The teacher's name was Mr Starkweather and clearly almost all the girls were crushing on him, trying to get his attention with flips of their hair and bats of their eyelids. What amused her the most was that he was practically oblivious to it and if he knew, well he clearly couldn't care less if he tried. He sent them jogging around the hall as a warm up exercise, even this wasn't above Clary's abilities or so she thought. Just as she was getting into a good pace and rhythm she found herself tripping and slamming into the floor

"Oops my bad." The dark haired girl giggled in that fake high pitched laugh before running on.

"Good one Izzy." She heard someone else laugh and then the slap of hands indicating a high five.

She slowly dragged herself up from the floor, as she was about to continue running she felt a hand on her back.

"Are you alright? What happened?" The teacher asked gently.

"I'm fine, nothing I guess I just tripped." She lied, she knew that telling tales about the girl, who she presumed was called Izzy, wasn't going to get her anywhere good.

The worst thing is the girl was right, she hated this place. She just wanted to go home.

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 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to inbox me or leave reviews with your thoughts!:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Guys! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. I have made this chapter longer at the request of one of my readers and I will aim to make them longer in the future. Enjoy :)**

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Chapter 3

The rest of the class wasn't too eventful, she had art class after which she was actually looking forward to, drawing was one of the only things she was quite good at and the people in her class were nothing like Izzy so she even managed to start to enjoy it slightly.

When break came she just wanted to seek out Jonathan to see if his day was going better than hers, of course she had no doubt it would be. Jonathan was just better at making friends than she was and she had no idea why.

She made her way to what seemed to be the main social area and what she saw made her heart sink and her stomach turn inside out. Jonathan had his arm around Izzy who was giggling happy and clearly trying as hard as she could to flirt her butt off.

There was no point interfering she figured so before her brother had a chance to spot her, she took off running and trying to stop the tears from spilling from her eyes. It was stupid she realised, this Izzy girl had only been in one class with her. Her brother probably didn't even know what happened and yet she couldn't help feeling betrayed.

Suddenly she felt herself collide with someone.

"Wow watch where you're going!" They exclaimed.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't see you." She stammered as she looked up into a pair of golden eyes. That's when she really took a look at who she had walked into, there was no denying how beautiful he was. He had golden-blond hair to match golden eyes and it was easy to make out a washboard stomach and hard abs through his thin shirt. He smirked, knowing all too well that she was checking him out and clearly he knew just how good he looked. So he was one of _them_ guys.

"Whatever." He laughed and rolled his eyes, "The ladies just can't get enough of Jace Herondale." The rest of his friends and well most of the people nearby laughed at her, she felt her cheeks beginning to burn again. She had been embarrassed twice so far and it wasn't even lunch, it would definitely be a long today.

"Maybe that would be true if you weren't such an arrogant bastard." She snapped, not sure were the confidence came from but this time her voice didn't crack and certainly a few people turned. A few even looked scared for her.

"Oh is that right? Listen here redhead, you're new here so you clearly don't know how things work. I'll let you off this once but don't get in my way again, am I clear?" He hissed in her face.

"Crystal." She shot before pushing her way past everyone and walking away, she wasn't really sure where she was going - not that it really mattered. Eventually she found a quiet corner where she sank to the floor sighing and waiting for the bell to go for the next class.

At lunch she sat alone in the quiet corner she had found. She couldn't bear to face her brother, nor did she feel like bumping into Jace again.

Finally the final bell went and she rushed straight out of the school gates without looking back. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going?" Said the person who she now realised was Jonathan.

"Home, where does it look like?" She snapped back, still upset with him.

"Well you could have waited for me you know. Also where did you go at lunch and break? I looked for you."

"Yeah, sure looked like you were suffering."

"Is this about Isabelle?" He exclaimed, when she didn't say anything he continued, "Seriously Clary, she's brilliant and she's, well how should I say it, extremely hot."

"Yeah, whatever." She sighed, really not interested in hearing Jonathan going on about that stupid bitch.

"What is your problem? You don't even know her." He asked her angrily.

"Well she didn't know me when she decided to be a complete bitch to me in gym, did she?"

"Oh come on Clary, she probably wasn't being horrible, you're over-exaggerating. It's not her fault you're no good at gym." He sighed at her. She just turned her head away, she couldn't even look at him. How could he say that? He was supposed to be her big brother, protecting her from these exact people.

"Clary I'm sorry..." He started.

"Forget it Jonathan. Just leave me alone, okay?" She sighed before walking on ahead herself. He didn't try to catch up, he just let her run off.

When she got home she walked in, slammed the door shut and ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door shut before falling to her knees and crying out all the tears she had been keeping in all day, for Isabelle, Jace, Jonathan, school, life, Simon, everything. She heard her parents talking downstairs but didn't bother to pay attention to what they were saying, she tuned everything out. When she heard a knock at the door she screamed for them to go away and afterwards no one came back. Jonathan was probably downstairs telling their parents all sorts of crap about why she was upset, making her seem unreasonable and weak. Which maybe she was but for different reasons.

Eventually she had no more tears to cry and just sat on the floor sniffling, that's when she realised how stupid she was being, she should be getting on with it instead of acting like a pathetic bitch. She was going to email Simon about her day but she just decided to phone him, he wouldn't judge her for crying and he wouldn't make fun of her.

He picked up after a few rings.

"Hello? Clary?"

"Yeah it's me." She sighed.

"Oh it's good to hear from you, how are things in New York?" He clearly knew something was wrong but didn't want to be the first one to bring it up.

"Oh Simon it's awful, the people are so horrible and Jonathan is friends with them and they all hate me. I miss you so much." She sniffed, feeling the tears come back.

"How could anyone hate my Clary?" He tease before his tone turned sombre once more, "God Clary, I wish I could just come hug you right now."

"I wish you could too." She whispered, they went silent for a few minutes before Simon spoke again.

"We are going to see each other again though, right?" He whispered, almost sounding scared of the answer.

"Yeah Simon, we will. Maybe you could even come to New York some day and stay over, I could show you around." She suggested though he would probably tell her how insane that was.

"I'd like that." He told her instead.

They talked about anything and everything for quite a while until she heard a small tap at her door.

"Simon, I'll talk to you again soon, okay?"

"Okay, I love you Clary." He said and she wasn't sure exactly what kind of love he meant but she just had to take it as friendly love.

"I love you too Simon, bye."

"Flopped onto her bed sighing as her room door opened.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Her mom murmured when she came in and sat down next to her.

"I don't know what Jonathan told you but I'm willing to bet it's a load of crap so ignore it."

"Oh come here." Her mom said, pulling her into her arms and holding her tightly against her chest.

"You don't get it Mom you just don't get it."

"Clary, I think you'll find-" her Mom started before she was cut off by her Dad.

"Come on Jocelyn, you can't baby her forever. She's a big girl, she needs to learn to handle this stuff. Not everyone in life of going to like you and there's nothing you can do about it." Her Dad stated, as if she wasn't even in the room.

"Valentine! How can you possibly say that?" Jocelyn exclaimed.

"Jocelyn, are you really going to argue with me? It's the truth and you know it." He laughed before walking out and closing the door again. She could sense something was off and couldn't decide what.

"Mom, what was that all about?" She whispered.

"What are you talking about? Everything's fine, I'm going to make dinner." Her Mom said quickly then walked out and went downstairs.

Why was everything such a mess?

On her second day at Alicante High School she decided to stop hiding and instead went into the canteen for lunch. She made eye contact with Jace and he just laughed, he wasn't so bad she figured. He seemed more concerned about his social image than actually causing her any trouble. She wasn't sure where to sit when Jonathan walked up behind her and startled her with his offer.

"Hey Clary, why don't you come sit at our table?" He pointed to a table which both Jace and Isabelle were sitting at. She wasn't sure what to say, on the one hand she was sure she would rather put a knife through her eye than sit with them but it was her brother and she couldn't really say no. She simply nodded and followed after him, she sat right next to him and all the eyes turned to focus on her. She looked at Jonathan, expecting him to introduce her but he did no such thing.

At the table there was Jace and Isabelle that she knew, near them sat a strange boy with eyeliner and glittery clothes on who was sitting beside a quiet boy with black hair and black clothes. The glittery one waved cheerfully while the dark haired boy sat silently shooting death glares at everyone - she began to understand the phrase "if looks could kill".

"Ah you again." Jace said, smirking at her. She couldn't tell if this was good or bad.

"Yeah, me again." Clary sighed quietly under her breath.

"You know, I didn't actually catch your name." Jace said, never removing that annoying smirk from his face.

"Shame." She replied but when Jace raised his eyebrow at her she continued, "It's Clary."

"Clary, interesting name. You know, I believe you've met my sister Izzy. I'm sure you two will be great friends." At this both she and Izzy shot him matching glares before turning them on each other. Jace just laughed.

Why was he teasing her like this? Pretending to be nice when really he was doing no such thing and clearly everyone at the table knew it. She ate her lunch as quickly as she could and walked out of the canteen. Jonathan didn't even try to stick up for her, when it was obvious they were being mean to her.

As she was leaving she heard Jace run up beside her.

"What the hell do you want?" She snapped before he could get a word out.

"Feisty red head, I like it." He laughed and stroked a piece of her hair. She moved it out of his grasp.

"Look if you're just coming to tease me you may as well get lost."

"You know, if things were different, I might actually say you were cute." He said so quietly that she thought she was hearing things. She turned to look at him but he was already sitting back down at the table.

This time she actually waited on Jonathan after school, they walked home together in silence. Neither having anything to say to the other, it was just as well because she feared she would snap and start shouting at him if he did. Once she was home she found out that apparently the awful part of the day wasn't completely over.

"Welcome home, how was school?" Mom greeted them but without waiting for an answer she continued straight on, "Your Father and I realised that our old friends the Lightwood's still live here so we are going to visit them for dinner tonight, I think they actually have kids around your age that to your school I can't remember their names but it's not important. Go and get ready, we're leaving in half an hour."

Jonathan's face had a strange expression on it but when she asked he shrugged her off and went to his room. She decided she may as well get ready, if she had to suffer through this then she may as well look good at the same time.

She changed into one of the only two or three dresses she owned, it was black and came to just above her knees, she picked a pair of black shoes to go with it before redoing her makeup and brushing out her hair, she actually managed to pin it up for a change. She put on her emerald green coat that her Uncle Luke had gotten her for Christmas a few years ago and went downstairs to where her family were getting ready to leave. Surprisingly, Jonathan seemed to have made a big effort for this dinner she had no idea why, no one else seemed bothered though so she just went along with it.

"Everyone ready to go?" Her Mother asked, when they all nodded she went out to the car and left their father to lock the door.

They took their first drive as a family since moving to New York through the busy city. Finally the car drew up beside what looked like a rather old building at a first glance but after really looking at it, you could see how beautiful it actually was.

"Wow, how come we've never met these friends before." She whispered in awe.

They just laughed in response. They went to the door and rang the bell, it didn't take long for it to be answered by a woman with raven black hair.

"Jocelyn, Valentine, it's lovely to see you and your beautiful children. Well to this institution we Lightwoods call _home_." She beckoned us in.

"Thank you Mayrse, it's great to see you again too." My Mother replied with a smile as she walked in, "It's a beautiful house you have here."

"Thank you, I assume your new house is coming along well?"

"Yes, it's great being here in the city. We're settling in well."

Easy for Mom to say, unlike her mother, Clary hated every moment in this awful city. She just wanted to be back home with Simon, where no one made fun of her, no one deliberately tried to make her feel bad. She just wanted out of this city.

What happened in the next moment made her want to leave even more.

Jace and Isabelle were sitting in the Lightwood's living room along with a boy she has seen in the canteen earlier that day and another little boy who couldn't have been more than ten. Suddenly Jonathan's dressing up made sense, he obviously knew Isabelle's last name and had tried to impress her. She wished she could punch him for not telling her but it was needless to say that this was not the time or place.

"Clary! What a wonderful surprise!" Jace exclaimed with a smirk when he saw her.

"Oh so you two know each other?" Her Mom asked.

"No Mom, we don't know each other at all." She told her through gritted teeth much to Jace's delight though she wasn't sure what he was finding so great out of this situation.

"Alright then," Mayrse coughed, trying to clear the awkward silence, "Robert should be home any second now, and he will be delighted to see you all I'm sure. Why don't you take a seat in the living room while I make us some coffee.

Jonathan went straight over to sit next to Isabelle who welcomed him with a huge exaggerated grin, she just rolled her eyes at him. That girl looked like a heartbreaker and if Jonathan got hurt then she could only say she told him so.

She took a seat by herself and inwardly groaned when Jace got up and walked over to sit beside her. How could someone so beautiful be so irritating?

"Seems like your brother is getting it on with my sister." He said in a way of greeting.

"Great." She replied sarcastically with a dramatic eye roll.

"Well, you are quite something." He chuckled, it seemed more to himself so she didn't bother with a response. She had no idea what he was talking about really, was he still mocking her? Did he actually like her? If he liked her could she ever like him back? So many questions, she screamed at her brain to stop. How dare she imagine being with Jace she thought.

She was about to speak, maybe try to at least make an effort to talk to Jace when a man walked into the room.

"What is happening here?" He exclaimed when he saw my Mom and Dad.

"Hello Robert, it's good to see you." My Dad said, standing up to shake Robert's hand. She figured this must be the Lightwood children's dad, he looked very angry and she couldn't figure out why.

"Valentine, if only I could say the same." Robert replied without shaking Dad's hand then walked out of the room.

Everyone in the room fell into a shocked silence, Dad's face was bright red and showing a mix of embarrassment and anger. It was really uncomfortable and they could all hear the furious whispering from outside in the hallway.

"What the hell are they doing in my house Mayrse?" Robert snapped at his wife.

"Robert. Valentine and Jocelyn have been friends with us for years, they moved into the city recently, it's only decent to invite them over." Mayrse replied in a calmer manner.

"You know fine well that-" Robert started before my Mum stood up and cut them off.

"Robert, Mayrse, we should probably get going. We didn't want to cause any problems." She said, as she opened the door.

"Nonsense, Jocelyn. I-We invited you here," Mayrse corrected herself awkwardly, "So you must stay, please just have some coffee and a biscuit."

"Mayrse." Robert warned in a harsh tone.

"If you don't like it Robert then leave." Mayrse snapped before walking away into the kitchen, Robert stormed out leaving everyone except the four adults confused.

Even Jace had lot the constant smirk from his face, she turned to him with a questioning look but he was as lost as she was. The boy with the glasses came up and sat next to Jace who - for the first time since Clary had met him - actually showed affection, ruffled his hair and showed a real genuine smile.

"Clary, this is Max. He's my little brother, technically." He introduced him, she didn't bother asking what he meant by 'technically', it felt rude.

"Hi Max, I'm Clary." She smiled at him warmly, he was just so cute!

"Do you know how to read this?" He asked her shyly and held out a book that had a Chinese sort of manga look to it.

"It looks very pretty, I'm sure we can figure it out. Why don't you come over and I'll help you?" She suggested. She looked up at Jace, expecting to see disapproval there; she couldn't be sure if she was out of line by suggesting this as she barely knew any of them. She was happily surprised though to see a real smile on his face, not just a smirk but a real, loving smile that almost made her heart stop.

She sat with Max, helping him through his strange book while Jace watched on fondly, giving a few comments here and there. It was the first time she felt truly happy since she had moved here, so of course something had to ruin it.

"Max, come on over here and see something else." An icy voice cut through their reading.

"Izzy, Clary is showing me how to read my book. It's amazing." Max told her proudly.

"Well, I can do that." She told him coldly, it was clear what she was trying to do.

"But you told me yesterday you didn't want to help me and-" He started, she felt bad for him. He was clearly confused by his sister's sudden coldness, it was awful that she should spoil her brother's fun for some bitchy argument with Clary.

"Well now I've changed my mind, come on."

"What's your problem Isabelle?" Jace spoke up for the first time since Isabelle came over.

"Shut up Jace, I'm not the one with the problem."

"No, I think-" He argued back. It was clear that Jace was fond of Max, it brought out a side she never thought he had.

"Jace, just shut the hell up for once. No one cares what you think. You're not even my real brother. You can't tell me what to do." She snapped. All four of them fell into an uncomfortable silence before Isabelle dragged Max away, he wasn't protesting anymore. Clearly realising that it could only make things worse.

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 **Thanks for reading! Remember you can feel free to leave me feedback in the reviews or inbox me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this has taken longer to publish, I wasn't happy with several things and again I wanted to try to make it longer for you guys! I love getting all this feedback so I know what you want to see happen so thank you for that and for all the kind comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

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Chapter 4

Clary POV

Finally the bell that marked the end of the day went off, Clary really couldn't be happier. Generally all classes that weren't Art tended to drag for her, and as for Physics, well that's a whole other level of awful. She packed up her stuff and walked out of the class, finding herself almost face to face with Jace, she smiled and almost said hello but without showing any recognition he turned and walked away. After Clary had been to his house and he had been acting so nice, she expected him to be nicer to her in school but now she figured that was too far-fetched.

She walked out of the school gates to wait for Jonathan; instead she found someone better.

The gangly, skinny form leaning against the walk was none other than her best friend in the whole world: Simon.

She screamed in delight as she ran into his arms, she couldn't remember ever being so happy to see someone.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asked excitedly, knowing that it didn't really matter.

"Well, I think my best friend lives in New York, she's a small crazy, uncontrollable red head. She's pretty feisty, you might know her?" He replied with a goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Idiot." She grinned back, shoving him slightly in a playful manner.

"Ah, so the knight in shining armour appears." A voice interrupted her response. She knew who the voice belonged to straight away of course and turned to face her big brother.

"Simon, you remember Jonathan, right? You may also know him as 'that asshole'" She laughed.

Jonathan laughed along with her, "I'm kidding, it's good to see you Simon."

They all talked in that old, familiar way the whole way home. This was most certainly the happiest she had been since her Mom told her she was moving to New York. When they reached the house, Simon grudgingly admitted that the house was beautiful even though it wasn't anywhere near the place she really called 'home'. Now that she looked at it, she guessed it was a beautiful house. Clary had been so focused on hating the house for taking her away from Simon that she hadn't even realised how great it was.

It was her Mom who opened the door; she was almost as happy to see Simon as Clary was - _almost._

"Simon! This is a surprise, come in, come in." Jocelyn welcomed him in, "How have you been? It feels like ages since we last saw you."

Her Mom was right; it did feel way longer than it actually had been. Clary felt like she hadn't seen her best friend in about a year when really it was only a few weeks, it was strange how it worked like that.

They were all sitting at the table talking and laughing when Valentine walked in, even he couldn't be in a bad mood when Simon was here. Something about Simon just being here created such a happy atmosphere for everyone, like the whole world was just smiling at whoever was around him.

"Simon, my boy! Good to see you around here, son." Her Dad exclaimed while wearing one of his genuine grins. In all truths, her dad was like a dad to Simon. After Simon's dad died when he was younger Valentine was the only Father figure he really had.

Even though she loved being with them all, she did want to steal Simon away for herself for a while.

"Mum, is it okay if I show Simon my new room?" Clary asked, knowing that her Mum couldn't say no.

"Of course it is! I'll call you both down for dinner when it's ready." Jocelyn replied in her happy tone.

Clary led Simon upstairs to her room, knowing that really there was nothing to show him. She just wanted it to be like old times again, where they could sit and talk for hours and never run out of things to say, never getting bored of each other. It was this that made her confused as to why Isabelle could possibly want all those fake friends when she could have one great one like Clary had found in Simon.

"Um your room is uh nice..." He stammered awkwardly. She looked at him in confusion before she remembered what had happened last time they had been in his room together, those few moments when their lips met...it almost seemed like a dream to her now.

"We don't have to talk about _that_ if you don't want to." Clary whispered, somehow feeling like it was too private to say out loud.

Simon nearly nodded and changed the subject. They had both been through far too much together to turn their backs on one another over something stupid like a kiss, they would just have to get on with their friendship like it never happened. It didn't mean anything though, right? She asked herself, but couldn't find the answer.

If Clary was happy before, she was ecstatic now. It turned out Simon was staying with the Morgenstern's all weekend, meaning she would get to spend so much more time with him Simon she originally planned. In all honestly she was surprised that Mrs Lewis actually let him stay, she was usually super protective in situations like these but somehow their friendship counted for something.

On Saturday they hit the streets of New York City together, Clary had yet to explore the city and she couldn't think of anyone better to do so with than her best friend. They had always done everything together so this was no different.

She spotted a little coffee shop across the road and dragged Simon through the door. Back home they had a coffee shop they always went to together to have coffee, they could stay and talk for hours without the conversation ever becoming awkward. This one was called 'Java Jones', Clary decided right there and then that she finally found something she liked about this city.

Clary and Simon had just sat down with their drinks when Clary began to feel uncomfortable as though they were being watched, she shifted uncomfortably something golden caught her eye – Jace. She could see Jace scowling at her and Simon, for what reason, she couldn't quite fathom. As soon as she met his eyes he looked away and walked out with his coffee, ignoring the blonde cashier trying her best to catch his attention.

"Do you know that guy?" Simon said suddenly breaking Clary out of her thoughts.

"Unfortunately I've encountered him a few times." She sighed shaking her head.

For a fleeting moment a strange look passed over Simon's eyes as he watched the door close behind Jace, however, it was gone so quickly that she began to question whether she had imagined it or not.

Simon filled Clary in on lots of gossip which she was missing at home, he told her about his band and their ever changing names; the more serious he got, the more she laughed. He could never be mad at her though, he laughed with her. Finally, she felt at home. Simon was her safety net, she understood that now. Without Simon, there was no Clary.

After they left to walk back to Clary's house, they met none other than the pretentious dick himself – Jace.

"So, Clary. Care to introduce me to your boyfriend over here?" He asked with the same cocky smile plastered on his face as always, as if he didn't quite care whether you answered him or not.

"He's not-" she began before Simon cut her off.

"I'm Simon, and you are?" Simon interrupted, edging slightly closer to her. Jace was grinning by this point, clearly enjoying seeing Clary flustered.

"Who am I? I am _the_ Jace Herondale, don't tell me Clary hasn't told you all about me, my dear, I am offended." Jace gasped and clutched at his chest. She knew he was just trying to get under her skin…she hated to admit it was working.

"Sorry Jace, we have to go. I'll see you around." She sighed, shaking her head and taking Simon away with her before he could say anything stupid to Jace. Despite feeling annoyed at Jace's usual arrogant behaviour, she still couldn't help herself when her mind wandered to his perfect golden hair or his perfect face or…

"Clary! Are you listening to me?" Simon broke into her thoughts and she realised she had been ignoring him for the past five minutes with all her thoughts on Jace. "I asked if there was anywhere else you wanted to go or would you like to go home?"

"Home is fine, Simon." She said sheepishly, seeing he still didn't look overly pleased she added, "We can go and play Dungeons and Dragons if you aren't too afraid I'll beat you?"

"Oh you are so on." Simon laughed and ran after her as she began to run ahead. They were such children but Clary loved that, she was never one of those girls who felt they had to grow up really quickly and Simon understood that.

All too soon the weekend was over and Simon had to go home. Before she had come to terms with things without him again, she found herself back in the classroom, listening to the teacher drone on and on. Everyone around her was talking about some party that was happening on Friday night - it went without saying that she wasn't invited.

She kept seeing Jace around the school and they would sometimes half eye contact for a split second which made her think it wasn't all a dream, but sometimes he walked passed her without a glance. She felt like she was falling for him but she knew it was stupid to even think about letting her feel that way, half the girls in school were crazy for him and she swore she would never be that girl that went along with all that crap.

She hadn't been back to his house since that night though, her parents still argued about it sometimes. She wasn't exactly sure what was wrong between her Dad and Jace's but it was clear that it was serious.

"Watch where you are going, freak!" Someone screeched as she collided with them.

The apology was on her lips but as she looked up to see who it was she inwardly groaned and bit her tongue. Isabelle Lightwood.

When she didn't say anything, Isabelle snapped again, "Hey! I'm talking to you loser!"

"No you are screaming in my face." Clary said blandly from some found confidence.

"Oh you did not just-" she started to growl. Clary looked round to see what cut her off, none other than her brother. Isabelle made a big show of running up to him and hugging him, "Hey babe, I missed you. I was just taking to your sister, thought we could be friends."

Clary just stood gaping at both of them.

"I think that's a great idea." Jonathan said with a smile, making her want to be sick. Instead she didn't say anything but turned and made an attempt of stalking away to show her anger - although she probably just looked stupid.

When Clary arrived home by herself - Jonathan left her for Isabelle again - she found her Mom get dressed up to go out somewhere. She was confused, she hadn't heard anything about any plans.

"Mom?" Clary asked her quietly.

Jocelyn jumped and turned to face her, "Oh it's you, hi Clary. How was school?"

"Well I could say great but I'd be lying." She shrugged, "Where are you going dressed like that?"

Her Mom ushered Clary into her room without saying a word.

Once the door was closed her Mom sat on the bed with a sigh, "I'm going to dinner with the Lightwood's."

"Is Dad going?"

"No, he doesn't know. Your Dad and Robert have some bad blood between them. I don't want to tell him I'm going."

"Are you sure sneaking around is the answer?" Clary asked even though it didn't really matter to her, she was always a Mommy's girl, she would stick up for her no matter what.

"I don't think there is another way honey, I wish there was." Clary couldn't tell if her Mom really was serious but she didn't question her.

"Okay, but I get to come with you." She said, surprising herself, did she really want to go to some stupid dinner?

"Clary..." Her Mom started to say after getting over her surprise but realising it wasn't up for negotiation she agreed, "Sure, why not. Go get ready, we leave in twenty minutes."

She ran up to her room to find something half decent to wear, in the end she went with some black skinny jeans and a deep blue silky top along with her black combat boots. She gave herself a one over, applied some light makeup and headed downstairs to wait for her Mom.

It wasn't long before Clary and Jocelyn were in the car and on their way to the Lightwood's house. As they were passing through the street, she saw Jonathan and one of his friends from school – Sebastian she thought his name was - walking together and laughing, she thought quickly and ducked her head, her bright red hair wasn't going to do her any favours if he was to turn around.

Finally they made it to the Lightwood's house without much trouble.

"Well here goes nothing." She sighed as she opened the car door.

"Don't forget that you wanted to come, Clary." Her Mom reminded her, "At least try to be nice."

She put her hands up in a silent surrender and headed for the door. When she rang the doorbell, it was none other than the narcissistic blond ass himself that answered.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my charms for long, Red." He smirked.

"Keep dreaming, also I'd rather you didn't call me that." She sighed before walking in. She heard him greet her Mom in a much nicer way and sighed again to herself.

"Hey, Clary! Look I got new books like the ones we were looking at last time!" Max greeted her with a grin, holding up some more of the manga books she had been helping him with on her last visit to the Lightwood's.

"Great! I'd love to see them later." She replied with a smile. No matter how she felt how his siblings, she just couldn't not like Max, he was the sweetest 10 year old ever.

Just on time, Isabelle emerged from her room. She took one look at Clary and walked back inside her room. At least she didn't say anything mean for a change she thought to herself - at least that had to be some sort of progress. Mayrse came out to welcome them.

"Jocelyn, Clary, great to see you both!" Mayrse said as she ushered them into the living room. Jace came in and leaned against the wall, the same arrogant look plastered on his face. Why was it always the best looking ones that acted like complete dicks?

"Hello Mayrse, how are you?" Jocelyn said with a smile, taking a seat on the sofa, Clary sat beside her. She felt a bit awkward and out of place even though no one really seemed to be paying her any attention – except Jace who was quietly watching from the corner. She hadn't realised she was staring at Jace until he moved and stood up straight, interrupting the conversation.

"Clary, do you want to come a walk?" Jace asked, he said it in a polite way that made her want to slap him for whatever reason. She was about to make a smart remark when she saw her Mom giving her a stern look that told her that it wasn't an option.

"Of course, Jace." She said in the most fake, sweet voice she could manage.

When they got out into the hallway, she turned to him.

"What exactly is going on?" For a moment he actually looked like he was struggling to find something to say.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He lied smoothly. She looked at him but let it slide and continued walking until he stopped in front of a room that she figured must be his own.

He walked across to stand in front of the big window, she stood next to him but didn't dare say anything. It was dark and there was a beautiful view of New York, she loved watching and suddenly wished she had a paint brush in her hand, it would have made a great picture. She glanced up at Jace at the exact moment he glanced down, she didn't want to break the eye contact but he quickly coughed and looked away awkwardly. She felt warm inside and mentally slapped herself for thinking of Jace in that way, there was no way they could ever be together, no way she would ever allow herself to want him.

"Tell me about yourself, Clary." He said quietly, breaking the silence.

"What?" She asked, completely caught off guard by the question.

"Well I mean, I don't know anything about you. Your mother and Mayrse seem to be good friiends so I figure if you are going to be here then I should at least know some things about you." He asked her, without looking away from the window.

"Uh okay, well I like painting and drawing." She told him hesitantly, unsure where the sudden personality change had come from.

"What kind of things do you draw?"

"Whatever I feel like I guess, people, places, objects, anything."

"Could you draw me right now?" He looked her as he raised one perfect blond eyebrow.

"Maybe if I had paper, but I don't so maybe some other time." She shrugged, knowing that if she were to be studying Jace for that long she would probably go insane. He didn't reply, just lapsed into another silence.

A thoughtful look passed over his face and finally he spoke, "I mean of course I already know about your boyfriend, anyone else that's special back home?"

"Simon isn't my boyfriend, he's my bestfriend, that would be like dating my brother, I would never do that." She said quietly shaking her head, somehow glad she was able to correct him on the matter.

He seemed to ignore her for a while before he spoke, "I just can't figure you out, Clary."

She looked up at him, words failing her completely as she drowned in her golden, tawny eyes. This time, he didn't look away. She felt him move a little closer to her...

"Clary, we are going home now!" She heard her Mother calling before either herself or Jace got to say anything.

She muttered an apology before rushing away, her thoughts swirling around in her head in a confused muddle. Every time she closed her eyes she saw those golden eyes staring back at her.

"You look a little flushed honey, are you okay?" Jocelyn said when she saw Clary.

Clary didn't trust her voice so instead, she just nodded and smiled.

The next day at school, she found herself staring in Jace's direction more and more. She didn't realise she was doing it most of the time, it had become an automatic response whenever she was sharing a class with him. She was sure he must have realised, probably a few other people had as well, she didn't really care though, she knew what happened last night was real.

At lunch he called her over to sit with him and his friends. This of course did not go unnoticed, she felt jealous and angry glares fixed on her from almost every girl in the school. Just to piss them off more, she walked over and sat down without giving them a second glance.

"Hey, Red. Attracting some attention I see." Jace smirked, but didn't bother to look at any girl other than Clary. That's when it hit her, he hadn't actually ever really spoke to her in school.

"Sup, Asshole, didn't I tell you not to call me that?" She tried to say seriously but ended up grinning.

"Hmm…" He pretended to think, "It might have come up somewhere."

She looked across the table to see that everyone at the table was watching Jace and Clary's exchange like they had both grown a second head. Magnus, however, gave her a glittering wink, she fixed him with a look that she thought looked intimidating but instead he laughed her off.

"Yeah, I'm not hungry anymore." Isabelle muttered before getting up and walking away. Jonathan shot everyone an apologetic look before turning to run after her.

"Maybe things haven't changed that much then." She laughed to herself.

She began to fit in comfortably with Jace and the rest of his group, even if he was an ass, she could get used to seeing that beautiful face every day.

At the end of the day, she realised that Jonathan had ditched her for Izzy and once again she would be walking home alone.

"Clary!" She heard someone shout from behind her – he recognised the voice instantly.

"Just when I thought my luck had run out." She said with as much sarcasm as she possibly could.

"Don't worry, it's not my place to go depriving the ladies eyes of Jace Herondale."

"Well aren't you a saint. What did I do to be sentenced to your company?" Clary knew she was being childish using sarcasm to cover her increasing attraction towards Jace.

"Thought you might want to go get a coffee or something." He shrugged.

"Why?" She asked him feeling confused.

"I told you, with our parents being friends, we need to get to know each other." He reasoned with her. Not that his sister seemed to bother with that, although Clary supposed Izzy was close enough with Johnathon and shuddered at the thought.

"I don't have any money with me."

"I'll pay."

"I have homework." She said and it was partly true, although she was mainly looking for excuses.

"Do it later."

"Okay." She sighed, realising she wasn't going to win that battle.

He smirked realising he has won before asking her, "Have you heard about the party this Friday night?"

"Ugh, not you too. I'm sick of hearing people talk about it." She sighed, knowing it was just because she was jealous. Jace was going to be there, surrounded by sluts in short dresses that would be all over him.

"Well I was actually going to invite you. If you would like to come?"

"Oh. I don't really know anyone though and I don't really have anything to wear." She said even though she surprised herself with how much she wanted to go.

"I'll be there, your brother will be there and I'm sure Izzy will help get you ready." He replied but after a look at her face continued, "Well possibly, I'm sure I can convince her."

She found herself nodding along, "Okay."

"What?"

"I'll go, besides I think it's about time I get out somewhere."

"Wow that was easy." He laughed, maybe he didn't have as much faith in himself as she thought.

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 **Thank you for reading! Have a lovely day! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long to update, I was having issues with my planning beyond this chapter and had to change things to suit the rest of the story, I hope you guys still read and enjoy!:)**

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Chapter 5

Clary's heart was pounding by the time it got to her last lesson on Friday, she was a mix of excited and nervous for the party tonight. Somehow Jace had managed to convince Isabelle into helping her get ready; she wasn't sure she actually wanted to know what kind of deals Jace had made with Izzy. Regardless, she was going straight to the Lightwood's house after school. Her Mom had actually looked relieved when she said she was going to a party, she may have left the Lightwood detail out of the explanation she gave her Father but that wasn't important. The bell went and she grabbed her stuff and ran out, she could hear that the party was the topic of all the conversations around her. Jace caught up to her just outside of the school building, she was still confused about his sudden change of attitude around her but she just went with it.

"We are taking Izzy's car back to the house, come on!" He said before turning to run off without checking if she was following. Isabelle's car was a beautiful silver convertible, by far the nicest car anyone in the school had. She reached the car out of breath from trying to catch up with Jace – she really needed more exercise.

"Thanks for waiting, Asshole." She rolled her eyes at Jace.

He grinned and bowed in response, "My pleasure."

"If you are getting in then move it or I'm leaving." Izzy snapped from the driver's seat.

It wasn't that far to the Lightwood's house from the school, absolutely no need to take a car since it was a beautiful day but she couldn't complain. When they got inside, Izzy started waking to her room straight away, Jace nudged her in the same direction before disappearing with his adopted brother Alec.

She knocked lightly on the door before walking into Isabelle's room, Clary waited for her to snap a mean remark, but nothing came. Izzy was busy rummaging through her closet, she pulled out something black and tossed it to Clary.

"Try this, seems like your size." She said without a hint of malice.

Clary in disbelief before stuttering, "Uh, o-okay."

"Well, don't just stand there, the bathroom is in there." She pointed to a door on the other side of her room.

The dress was nothing like anything Clary had ever worn before, it was so short and tight. It felt like a second skin, she paired it with the fishnets Izzy had given her and immediately wanted to cover up. She kept Simon's necklace around her neck as usual, giving her at least some comfort in the revealing outfit. She walked to see Isabelle busy in her closet looking for her own outfit.

"Uh, is this okay?" She asked awkwardly, not really sure what kind of response she could expect.

"You scrub up well, I'll admit." Isabelle grunted, which was the closest to a compliment she'd ever heard. Jace must have convinced her pretty well. "Try these." Izzy said, handing her stilettos that she was sure she would never be able to walk in.

Still she tried them on, she immediately regretted in when she tried to walk, she tripped and landed ungracefully on her butt.

Izzy sniggered and handed her some lower back heels that strapped up her ankles. She wobbled slightly but knew she wasn't going to die in them.

"I usually say nothing less than 8 inches but I think they'll do." Izzy said to her with a shrug, "Give me an hour to get ready then I will do your hair or whatever."

Clary just nodded as Isabelle walked into the bathroom with a handful of clothes and shoes and god knows what.

Clary attempted walking in the shoes for a while longer before remembering she had her makeup bag with her and sitting in front of the mirror to perfect her look.

For the first time in what felt like ages, she was actually going to make an effort with her makeup look. She was already out of her comfort zone in Izzy's clothes so she figured she might as well go all out. As an artist it was easy to see her face as a blank canvas, she done all the basics then rimmed her green eyes in a black liner before adding mascara and some dark lipstick. She sat down with her sketchbook to draw while she waited for Izzy.

When Izzy finally emerged from the bathroom, she looked stunning, even Clary knew that. Suddenly Clary felt very small and childish compared to her, hopefully she wouldn't be spending much time with her at the party anyway.

"You look amazing." She said quietly, she hated to spur on Izzy's ego which she knew was almost as big as Jace's, sometimes it was hard to believe they weren't actually related.

"Well yeah." Isabelle smirked, after a second of hesitation she said, "Thanks."

Isabelle studied her face for a long time, her gaze made Clary squirm uncomfortably.

"Sit here." Isabelle commanded, pulling out the chair at her dressing table. Isabelle fussed with her hair for a while and somehow managed to tame her wild curls into some fancy updo, something Clary had never yet managed with her hair.

"Thanks Izzy." She thanked her, she still wasn't very fond of Izzy but at least today she hadn't given Clary any other reason to be a bitch to hate her.

"No problem, I guess you aren't so bad." Izzy smiled, she thought it actually seemed quite genuine for the first time, "Don't take that the wrong way, you are still a loser but I suppose I can maybe tolerate you."

Clary couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not so she didn't say anything, thankfully the doorbell rang and Izzy grabbed her purse and ran out to get the door.

Calling to Clary over her shoulder, "Get out my room and shut the door."

Finally an Izzy she recognised, she took her stuff and made her way out of her room only to bump into Jace. His eyes widened as he searched for something to say.

She shifted a little awkwardly in his gaze before looking up to meet his eyes.

He grinned, "You look good, Red. One thing though." He reached behind her head to pull out the clips and pins from her hair so her hair spilled out in a red mass of curls around her shoulders.

"Better?" She asked.

"Much."

"Jace! That took me ages!" Izzy exclaimed from down the hall, Clary noticed she was standing with her arm around Jonathan who must have just arrived.

"You'll get over it, let's go." Jace laughed while Izzy huffed as she walked out of the door.

They walked around to the club where the party was being held, " _Pandemonium_ " the sign read, it was covered in some strange signs she had never seen before.

When they walked through the door, Magnus came over to meet them, "Welcome all, I'm so glad you could all make it to the party, Chairman Meow will simply be thrilled you all showed up for his birthday."

Clary was confused, she hadn't realised it was a birthday party, they seemed to have left this part out when she was invited, she looked sideways at Jace as he rolled his eyes and then leaned over to mutter, "Yes, it's his cat's birthday but a party is a party so shut up." She stifled a giggle as Magnus shot them a look.

"Well, if you are all quite finished with those looks which I do not appreciate, we will be off." Magnus pouted before taking Alec's hand and dragging him away. Her brother and Izzy followed suit and eventually it was just herself and Jace standing awkwardly. Someone walked passed and handed them drinks and even though she had no idea what it was, she drank it for something to do. Soon Jace broke the awkward silence and she had never been more grateful to a person.

"May I have this dance?" Jace laughed and held out his hand. She took it shyly and let him lead her to the dancefloor, awkwardly swaying to the music and hoping it wasn't obvious that she had never been to a party in her life. Even as she looked at him, she could sense the cold looks she was getting from several of the scantily dressed girls at the party, it was clear that even here Jace was sought after. To her surprise, she noticed that Jace was only looking at her and couldn't quite understand why as she saw some of the girls that passed by.

After a few songs, they went to the bar and got shots and more drinks in lots of different colours. Clary had never really drank much but everyone else was doing it so she felt obliged. Before long she lost all sense of doubt and felt her confidence grow as her dancing with Jace started to get a little more x-rated as he grinded against her.

A small part of her brain was screaming at her to stop him because they were both clearly feeling the effects of the alcohol but her body wasn't listening. Jace looked at her as though he had never seen her before, she noticed how relaxed and free he looked, it was clear to her that he was only acting like this because of the alcohol but then couldn't the same be said about herself? Before she could ponder the thought any longer, Jace leaned down and roughly pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, a small voice in her head recognised how different this was to when Simon kissed her. Kissing Simon was pleasant – kissing Jace made her heart stop. All thoughts of Simon banished from her head as their tongues intertwined and their kissing got deeper.

Jace broke the kiss and growled softly into her ear, "Let's get out of here."

She nodded breathlessly as he began to lead her out of the party, she didn't notice any sign of her brother or other friends as she was leaving, but then again she was way more focused on Jace. They giggled and kissed every so often as they walked around to Jace's house neither of them totally in their right minds as the alcohol continued its effect. She thought she heard Jace whisper something about his parents being away on business but all she could focus on was him and his body.

Once they were in they went into Jace's room, they fell on top of his bed laughing and she noticed the room beginning to sway but forgot about it as Jace kissed her long and slow then harder. That voice inside her brain was still screaming at her to stop but, for the final time that evening, she ignored it.

Clary groaned as she woke up, her head felt like it was exploding from the inside, she half opened her eyes but the light made it worse. Suddenly she realised that she was not in her own room. She jumped straight away, ignoring the way her whole body protested, she felt dizzy and all most threw up but somehow managed stay standing.

She looked down to find herself totally exposed and made a strangled noise, her parents were going to kill her.

She looked at the bed to see Jace waking up, he glanced at her and then his eyes widened.

"No." He croaked, "We didn't, no. Oh god. You need to go home."

"Jace, do you remember what happened last night?" she whispered hoarsely.

"I was hoping you did." He groaned.

She flopped back down to the bed before her legs gave out.

"Clary, please tell me you weren't…you know…" Jace trailed off looking awkward. When she didn't say anything he groaned again and put his face down on the pillow. "It shouldn't have happened like this..."

"What?" Clary asked, unsure if she heard him correctly. "I should get ready." She sighed eventually when he didn't respond and stood up again, steadier this time and looked around for her stuff. She found her bag with her jeans in it and quickly picked it up.

"Good idea." Jace said from behind her.

"Uh, can you maybe um turn around?" she stammered

Jace laughed bitterly, "You think that's the problem here?" Regardless, he did turn around.

She changed into the clothes she had on the day before and picked up Izzy's clothes she borrowed and left them on the table. She looked at herself in the mirror and realised she looked like hell.

"Where is your bathroom?" She asked quietly.

"Second on the left."

She ran out quickly and around to the bathroom, she washed her face and tried to use her concealer as best as she could on the small purple bruises on her neck and dark circles under her eyes, hopefully if you didn't look too closely it wouldn't be noticeable. Her head was still killing her but she couldn't find any painkillers, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She clicked it on and saw she had 18 missed calls from her Mom, 2 from Jonathan and even a call from her Dad, and he almost never used his phone.

She groaned loudly but pocketed her phone without returning any of the calls.

As she left the bathroom Isabelle came out of her room, she cursed under her breath as Izzy gawked at her.

"Clary please say you just walked over here this morning." Isabelle whispered, Clary's mouth dried up completely and she couldn't find anything to say. "By the Angel, you are dead. What were you thinking?"

Clary felt her eyes well up, she was so stupid for letting this happen. Jace came out then, dressed in a black shirt, black jeans and a pair of black Doc Martens.

"We were drunk, it was an accident."

"That doesn't make it okay! Jesus Christ, Jace!" Isabelle exclaimed, "I swear to the Angel, you guys better have used protection. Clary's mouth fell open and Jace shifted uncomfortably.

Isabelle disappeared and came back with a bottle of pills and a glass of water which she thrust into Clary's hand. She didn't even need to ask what they were for, she just took two and drank the water before walking away without saying a word. She grabbed her stuff from Jace's room and headed for the door.

"It's not your fault; I just really need to get home. Goodbye, Jace." She yelled before running out, leaving him standing in the doorway as she done the walk (or rather _run_ ) of shame back to her house.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! This chapter was a little shorter than I would have liked but it seemed like the most appropriate place to** **end the chapter, I hope you understand that! Expect new chapters soon and as always let me know what you thought!**

 **One more thing, would you guys like to see a more detailed version of the scene with Jace and Clary after the party published as a separate story with a more appropriate rating? This would therefore give people the option to read the full version or the more calm version. Please let me know by PM or in the reviews, until next time!:)**


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